'This Week' Transcript: Karl Rove and David Plouffe

March 21, 2010

Page 10 of 16

LOTT: I've tried every way in the world to try to get us to have a
bipartisan bill out of the Finance Committee. That was denied. Tried
to get something done before it got to the floor, working with the
centrist groups, that was denied.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: Those are two former Senate leaders nearly a decade ago
sounding an awful lot like the current Senate leaders, and they are both
here with us on the roundtable.

We have, of course, George Will, former Majority and Minority Leader
Trent Lott, former Majority Leader and Minority Leader Tom Daschle, and
my friend, Sam Donaldson.

So, George, put this day, this vote, its significance in a
historical context.

WILL: Here's the context. Today, as happened yesterday and as will
happen tomorrow, and as will happen every day for the next 20 years,
more than 7,000 baby boomers will retire, going on the Social Security
and Medicare rolls, increasing the pressure on our Ponzi system we call
our entitlement programs.

This at a time when we're -- we're now about to -- probably right up
the street from here today -- going to add 32 at least million more
people with a middle-class entitlement involving subsidizing health care
insurance purchases for families of four up to $88,000 a year.

Now, Democrats who will vote in the House today for this think
they're going to put it behind them. The odds are very good, after the
reconciliation procedures are done in the Senate, that it will come back
to the House, so we're going to be wallowing in health care for a long
time to come.

And, finally, once this is passed, the American people will look at
the health care system and say, "This is the system the Democrats
wanted," so every complaint they have is going to be a complaint about
Democrats.

DONALDSON: Can I jump in before the majority leaders?

KARL: Sure.

DONALDSON: That is the weakest argument for keeping 32 million
Americans still off of health care, for making them go to the emergency
rooms, shifting the cost to the rest of us who have some sort of
insurance, the fact that we can't help our fellow citizens because we're
not a rich enough country to pay for it. That's silly, George.

KARL: But before we get to the leaders, let's take a look at the
entitlement programs, the two other big votes this has been compared
to. OK, we have 1965 and the Medicare vote. It passed the House
313-115, with a significant portion of the Republican caucus voting yes,
and 1935, Social Security, 372 yes, just 33 no, the majority of
Republicans joining Democrats and voting yes. What happened this time,
Senator Daschle?

DASCHLE: Well, I think, in part, it's a different Republican Party
than it was. I mean, it's a Republican Party that really doesn't have
the same commitment that the same Republicans had in other -- other
decades.

I mean, I -- I -- I had the good fortune to work with two
Republicans -- Howard Baker and Bob Dole -- who worked very
constructively over the last 18 months to come up with a bill that they
endorsed, very similar to the plan that we have before the Congress today.

So I think, in part, it's just a much more rigid, far more
ideological party than -- than before. And I think that's been playing
itself out now for the last couple of years.